Posted on 01/04/2021 3:27:27 AM PST by vanilla swirl
I assume many are going to DC rally on January 6. Even with no funny business cell phone service will be difficult if not impossible. Any ham radio operators going? Suggestions for frequencies, etc?
You need to check the model, but generally they all do
One thing I forgot to add, most police departments especially the larger ones can’t be picked up on any scanner because the audio is encrypted....
Most Fire Departments run digital radio systems that are trunked and you need to have a more modern scanner to hear them...
You can go to radioreference.com and search for the location you are interested in and it will tell you the frequency the police, fire department, etc. are all using and what type of system it is, it will give you an idea if your scanner will work with that location...
I am certainly no expert on digital comms, but I would assume any mumble server is going to have a pi card of the latest variety, say a four, installed and with appropriate software to be able to do what your links are talking about.
The links unfortunately don’t offer much background on operation. I’m only a tech studying for the General license, so I only have limited knowledge of what appears to be a somewhat complicated method of communication. Not that the entire ham world isn’t to some degree complicated and costly.
I don’t believe FR even has a ping list for ham radio unless I have missed it over the years. High time I would say, and someone with far more time in the hobby, experience, and youth than mine as a maintainer of the list. If the backbone of the internet ever takes a planned or unplanned dive, Amateur Radio and it’s offshoots, is the lifeline remaining.
Far better now to address the issue than after the fact. Solar powered off grid comm available now, with somewhat limited bandwidth in comparison to what the net now offers, but at least it is a means of communication outside of commercial communication systems and their cost and vulnerability.
Yes the FCC is in charge and Amateurs are secondary users on most frequencies but local and world wide comms are still available without the need for the electrical grid. Just some thoughts from an amateur, amateur.
There is a ham ping list.
I think tbw2 keeps it.
Thanks for the replies :)
I’m thinking that for the protest in Washington a portable HD radio would be best. C-span is at 90.1 and their HD channels usually have the House and Senate live when in session.
Very readable post, thank you.
While I do not condone unlicensed ham use, the ability to call for medical assistance through relay is a blessing.
Mumble is not on ham band, it is 2g through to and including 5g.
For simple encrypted wifi comms it’s perfect.
Encrypted comms are what the insurrectionists are using, online and at riots, trust me, if they were not the chan’s would have recorded, identified and streamed them online by now...
If you play fair, you get a pat on the back and a hole in the chest, if you want to win use the enemies tactics against them.
I am not a ham nor can I code, how do I know about this stuff.
Like you I am a realist and as such The net is a great teacher in prolonging one’s life and those of my family.
Deepest respects.
thanks so very much...much appreciated
This being DC, where the mayor painted “BLM” on the street, thus destroying traffic control markings, do not be surprised if she/it has cell towers in the area disabled.
146.52
Thank you for the info and welcome to FR. I certainly appreciate the education value of the internet for as long as it lasts. What a fountain of good with some opposite thrown in so we appreciate the good.
One point for me was finding out after 22 years here that shazam, there is a ham radio ping list, who knew. Thanks to mad as heck for that little tidbit. On that note the primary reason it took me three quarters of a century to take the test for tech, was Morse code. You said you don’t code but I’m not sure that is medical coding or Morse coding.
Your point regarding internet comm from 2g to 5g and use by the enemies of our Republic should get everyone’s attention. If I am not mistaken, amateur radio users start out on ham frequencies and with the benefit of a pi card are able to get on the internet and communicate digitally.
I’m not sure about the 2g to 5g issue since in my world that would translate to cell phone technology. The questions would be how much of cell traffic is internet vs fiber and how they interface?
Thanks again for the most interesting dialog and your finding Freerepublic. That’s probably a story worth hearing.
73’s !
We are jogging this topic but I find it very refreshing.
Summary..
Pi and other small board computers will have various levels of connectivity.
Pi 4 with 8 gig of ram has two usb ports and two high speed ports that can be used for low speed and high speed data transfer over an internal network or the high speed ones for the same, internal network... Off grid.
It has one gigabit high speed ports, to connect you to your router that then connects to the world wide net... A WAN
It also has a 4g and 5g wifi chipset, capable of connecting to your cell or tablet or anything wifi enabled.
So given we are talking of HAM, the Pi also has various accessories called Hats, these plug into the top of the Pi board sharing it’s computer and radio offerings ( simplified ). A HAM hat can be of a few designs, ham comms, voice comms over WiFi and others.
Example, a pi with only what comes out the box, and some open source free software you connect the pi up as a send and receive server... Using mumble as software
Turn it on and you can either broadcast or receive over a WAN or LAN... Through your router. Now, dang it’s hard to distill...
You have a server but do not want to connect over the WAN..the internet, then all you do is setup your server as a WiFi hotspot running mumble, then from your cell etc you connect to that servers broadcast ip address. Just like you do with any wifi server you connect to.
On the cell or tablet you type in the wifi vonnect password and your WiFi does the rest... Now using the app that talks to mumble, bingo, you got encrypted voice and text over WiFi.
Ok, if I can muster the energy I will look for a simplified step by step set of directions. Right now I am typing through a cloud of brain much.
Stay Vigilant
I’m a General class amateur. I may be going and will have a handheld with me. In addition to 146.520 I have 446.000 and will program in all the local DC repeaters. A backpack frequency or two is good too.
Good suggestion about 146.52, the national calling frequency. Fact is, even without ‘interference’ the local repeaters very likely will be overwhelmed by traffic. Perhaps local DC hams can work out a protocol.
I smoked two hams over the holidays...Oh,wait...never mind.
Just a heads up
If you watch the Antifa daytime vids and look carefully you see something odd now your looking for it..
You start seeing ppl with no cameras but the got backpacks on and seem to be staged around the rear of the Antifa groups, strong looking ppl, not fighting, why??
Look closer and you see antenna, two at least, small and whip like, meaning they can take bending but not snap off the mountings on the bag.
Look at the bags, they have some heavy gear ??! No, they are battery and radio comms systems.
Now you know how they coordinate and communicate, mobile off grid wifi servers
Tired, back soon.
Am still waiting for mine you were going to send.... Grrrssssss
😂🤣😂🐧🤳
It’s a little late, but I had the idea of re-transmitting the VHF repeaters on 40 meters (7 mHz). It would potentially give coverage to a large area (states) and could not be blocked... not that anyone would ever do such a thing intentionally... but if you’ve ever been in a large crowd and tried to use cellular service, it doesn’t work well if at all. Any 2 meter (144 mHz) ham gear (even if you only to listen), CBs, or GRMS radios will come in handy.
Oops!
Opps. You said that last year...
I had to eat my last sandshoe
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